Surnames: DNA tools

Yet another twist.  Tim Janzen indicates that he turns to the new resources of DNA analysis and hopes to learn things there.

He writes (appealing to my own interest in the surname Rempel): 

REMPEL

In recent months I have particularly been looking at probable areas of origin of the Mennonite surnames based on the Y chromosome marker data available (see www.Mennonitedna.com).  At this point we have the Y chromosome haplotype available for only one male Rempel, specifically a descendent of Bernhard Rempel (b. 1763, d. 1806)(Grandma #101361).  This person's Y chromosome haplotype is in Haplogroup R1a.  Haplogroup R1a is common in Poland, and in fact 56% of males of Polish ancestry have this haplogroup (see Wikipedia on R1a and Semino, et al., (2000). "The Genetic Legacy of Paleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens in Extant Europeans," Science, Vol. 290). 

Mennonites of Dutch ancestry frequently are of Haplogroup R1b or I.  Only 3.7% of a small sample of Dutch males (27 males), were R1a.  Thus, the Y chromosome results from the one male Rempel tested thus far are consistent with central European origin of the surname.  Hopefully, as more males in Europe have Y chromosome testing done it will become easier to pinpoint a probable area of origin for the Rempel surname. 

The closest matches I have been able to find thus far to the Rempel Y chromosome haplotype in the Sorenson database and in the Ysearch database are a Mr. MacDougall whose ancestors were from
Scotland and a Mr. Brandolino whose ancestors were from Italy, each matching 29 of 32 markers.

JANZEN

I have wondered exactly where my original Janzen ancestor was from for a long time.  The farthest that Glenn Penner and I have been able to trace my original Janzen lineage is back to a Jacob Janzen (b. ca
1730, GRANDMA #580914), whose father was a Franz Janzen and who was a member of the Orlofferfelde Mennonite Church in W. Prussia.  My Y chromosome haplogroup is J2a1k.  Haplogroup J2 is relatively rare in the Netherlands, and none were found in a relatively small sample size of 34 males from the Netherlands (Semino et al. (2004). "Origin, Diffusion, and Differentiation of Y-Chromosome Haplogroups E and J: Inferences on the Neolithization of Europe and Later Migratory Events in the Mediterranean Area," American Journal of Human Genetics, 74:1023-1034). 

The closest match I have been able to find in the SMGF and Y search databases is a Mr. Alexandratos whose ancestors were from Greece, matching 34 of 39 markers with my haplotype.  I wouldn't be surprised if my original Janzen progenitor never lived in the Netherlands and instead was from somewhere in central or southern Europe.

Hopefully, better sampling of European males will help provide some additional clues as to exactly where my Janzen progenitor was from.

In Kinship,
Judii